A large variety of examples can be supplied in how wikis have been used to manage course content and provide collaboration and discussion among students. The following will attempt to highlight research to support the use of wikis as educational adjuncts, outside of the basic course content medium, or "blog" application. Again, this assumes that wiki readers understand how wikis can be used to house both course content, additional information to enhance content and student interaction with wikis. In other word, other than the obvious, why use a wiki?
Student Communication and Collaboration vs. "Blogs"
Avci, U. and Askar,P. (2012) investigated student preference between wikis and blogs for collaborative and communication methods within an education curriculum. The researchers found that students perceive both to effective for learning, and had an equal level of commitment and anxiety associated with their use, overall students preferred the wiki as they were more easily able to revise or edit their posts, as more information was available. Wiki were generally considered more interactive and flexible, and best able to be used for group work. This format encourages creative thinking, and revision of previously held concepts in a way a traditional blog, email, or paper does not.
Unscheduled Student Engagement vs. traditional online course management systems:
Nakamaru's (2012) research questioned whether wikis would increase student participation in activities outside of scheduled class times. Although she stresses wikis are no "magic bullet" for getting students to engage in the subject matter outside of scheduled course hours, her research does suggest that the use of wikis provides opportunities for students to engage in course content, and for some students the availability of content and discussion is enough to get them to engage in learning beyond the traditional classroom hours.
Professionalism: Wikis vs. the "on-line community" Varga-Atkins, T., Dangerfield, P. & Brigden, D. (2010) investigated how wikis might enhance student professionalism. The authors found that student perceptions of themselves as "students" were stronger in the traditional social networking sites (Facebook), and their perceptions of themselves as "professionals' were stronger when using a wiki site. The authors suggest that wikis make knowledge sharing more formal than social networking. Additionally, and perhaps because of this, students were more apt to share hard to find information on wikis, than on social sites.
Education Applications
A large variety of examples can be supplied in how wikis have been used to manage course content and provide collaboration and discussion among students. The following will attempt to highlight research to support the use of wikis as educational adjuncts, outside of the basic course content medium, or "blog" application. Again, this assumes that wiki readers understand how wikis can be used to house both course content, additional information to enhance content and student interaction with wikis. In other word, other than the obvious, why use a wiki?Student Communication and Collaboration vs. "Blogs"
Avci, U. and Askar,P. (2012) investigated student preference between wikis and blogs for collaborative and communication methods within an education curriculum. The researchers found that students perceive both to effective for learning, and had an equal level of commitment and anxiety associated with their use, overall students preferred the wiki as they were more easily able to revise or edit their posts, as more information was available. Wiki were generally considered more interactive and flexible, and best able to be used for group work. This format encourages creative thinking, and revision of previously held concepts in a way a traditional blog, email, or paper does not.
Unscheduled Student Engagement vs. traditional online course management systems:
Nakamaru's (2012) research questioned whether wikis would increase student participation in activities outside of scheduled class times. Although she stresses wikis are no "magic bullet" for getting students to engage in the subject matter outside of scheduled course hours, her research does suggest that the use of wikis provides opportunities for students to engage in course content, and for some students the availability of content and discussion is enough to get them to engage in learning beyond the traditional classroom hours.
Professionalism: Wikis vs. the "on-line community" Varga-Atkins, T., Dangerfield, P. & Brigden, D. (2010) investigated how wikis might enhance student professionalism. The authors found that student perceptions of themselves as "students" were stronger in the traditional social networking sites (Facebook), and their perceptions of themselves as "professionals' were stronger when using a wiki site. The authors suggest that wikis make knowledge sharing more formal than social networking. Additionally, and perhaps because of this, students were more apt to share hard to find information on wikis, than on social sites.